Champions Trophy: Afghans no longer the underdogs, but emerging elite

The Afghanistan-England game last night would certainly rate as the best one of the ICC Champions Trophy so far – ranking a notch above Australia’s epic chase against England last week. The Afghan bravehearts have, through a remarkable performance graph in recent years, taken their reputation to such a level that their thrilling eight-run win in Lahore on Wednesday, 27 February, cannot be deemed as an upset anymore.

Given the fact that it’s their maiden appearance in the elite eight-team tournament – ahead of traditional powers like Sri Lanka or the West Indies - and the refreshing quality about their cricket brings about a bias among the global cricket fan towards Afghanistan. It was a win which proved that their 69-run humbling of England in the 2023 ICC World Cup was no fluke – while their first-ever semi-final entry in the T20 World Cup last year must have surely done wonders for their confidence.

Now that Hashmatullah Shahidi’s men have opened up the battle for semi-finals from Group B between themselves, Australia and South Africa, they need to put their best foot forward against the seasoned Aussies in their final group game on Friday. Two such demanding matches within 48 hours is certainly an example of skewed scheduling – given the fact India has been enjoying a six-day break ahead of their last game against New Zealand in Dubai – but the Afghans will have to give it their all.

Talk about a Australia-Afghanistan game and the mind races to the last one during last 50-overs World Cup and a certain Glenn Maxwell. Known to be primarily a dangerous T20 side, the Afghans showed a new found game sense in their approach in the 50-overs game in that tournament and had the eventual champions on the mat at 91 for seven. This is where ‘Maxi’ took over to overcome a severe bout of cramps and exhaustion to score an unbeaten 201, an innings arguably regarded as the best-ever ODI knock now – many keeping it ahead of Kapil Dev’s 175 not out at Tunbridge Wells.

Come Friday, Maxwell will be again there in the rival playing XI and the question of psychological pressure it could bring was popped up at Shahidi. ‘’You think we will come only to play with Maxwell?,’’ the Afghan captain countered, before adding: ‘’We have planning for the entire Australian team and I know that he played really well in 2023 World Cup, but that’s history. After that, we beat them in T20 World Cup and we think about all opposition team, we are not coming to the ground to plan on individual player.’’

This is the new Afghanistan, no longer afraid of reputations – though the way they imploded in the semi-final of the last World T20 against the Proteas is still fresh in memory. While their win against England was built around a commanding batting performance revolving around opener Ibrahim Zadran’s explosive 177, supporting roles from the middle order and an allround show by Azmatullah Omarazai (41 & five for 58),  their performance in chasing was below par against South Africa in their opening game.

However, the overnight win – and Zadran’s form on return from injury – will be a huge plus for the Afghans ahead of the key game. Showering praise on the Player of the Match Zadran, Shahidi said after the game: ‘’It’s never easy for a player to return from injury and make such a strong comeback in a high-stakes match. I am extremely happy for him because he is a very talented and hardworking player. When players like him perform well, as a leader, it makes me very happy and hopeful for the future. Ibrahim played a brilliant innings, and I pray that he continues to perform like this always.

The expectation from this Afghan lot is on the rise and there is an interesting sub-plot to the contest of these two teams. Cricket Australia (CA) had been one of the few boards which had been extremely vocal about the Taliban regime’s ban on women playing sport and had refused to play bilateral series against Afghanistan.

The Afghan captain, meanwhile, is focused on the game rather than the bigger picture for now. ‘’I think it will be a good game of cricket and our focus will be to keep things simple and don’t worry much about playing semi-final in those things. We will try to do our basics well, and we will try to come to the ground with good planning. And yeah, Afghan people always cheer for us, as you saw today in the ground,’’ Shahidi added.